Escaping the Archangel
by Final Frontier Voyager
Summary: Alternate ending to 6x03 The Third Man. What if Balthazar arrived two seconds late when he came back to save Castiel... No character death, just hurt!Castiel. Oneshot.


**A/N: Hi everyone and welcome to my first Supernatural fic! It's kind of an alternate ending to 6x03 that was going around in my head so I had to write it down... hope you'll like it!  
**

**Summary: What if Balthazar was a little too late when he came back to save Castiel from Raphael... Don't worry, no character death.**

**Warnings: Nothing serious, just a little whump;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural and the adorable guys in there. What a pity!**

**Big thanks to: InsideYourDreams24 who has betaed for me!:)  
**

* * *

Escaping the Archangel

BANG!

Raphael delivers yet another vicious kick at the side of Castiel's head, sending the lower class angel tumbling painfully down the remaining set of stairs. He is unable to stop the fall, just like he was unable to block or dodge the punches he received earlier; when an archangel wants to finish you, he will do it and you can't do anything to stop him. Castiel's angelic powers are blocked; he can even barely control his vessel.

As he lands on his stomach at the bottom of the stairway, he stands up immediately and spins on his heels, only to be faced with Raphael once more. He feels something warm and wet trickle from his mouth down to his chin; the vessel seems to be bleeding. There is wrath and righteous fury written on the archangel's face and Castiel knows it's probably over for him. Sam and Dean can do little to help him, especially right now when they're most likely surrounded by more of Raphael's soldiers. Well, apart from a ring of holy fire, but the chances of that…

Raphael strikes him hard and he falls on his knees. He would have preferred to die standing on his feet, not kneeling in a clear sign of defeat, but he can't do anything about that now. It probably doesn't even matter as there is no one here to witness his passing.

The silver blade glints in the archangel's hand as he lifts it, preparing to strike down.

"Somehow, I don't think God will be bringing you back this time."

Castiel doubts it too. He has already been brought back twice; even God's patience can't be everlasting. There is, however, still a speck of hope deep inside of him that can't be wiped out of his soul; even now that he's looking death straight in the eyes.

And as the sword ascends even further, as it slowly reaches its zenith, suddenly a wave of will to live rushes through the angel. He can't die yet… can't leave the Winchesters to face the wrath of Raphael alone, even if he risks losing his dignity while trying.

In a split second Castiel thinks and decides. Just as the blade begins its rapid descent, he throws himself sideways in an attempt to dodge the stab that is aimed for his heart. Though it won't cost Raphael much time to lift the sword and strike again, even that small amount of time would be an advantage for him if he succeeded…

He only half-succeeds. Just before hitting the ground, he feels the blade bore into his shoulder, so deep that the tip of it even comes out in the back. The pain is immediate and absolute. The power of the impact knocks him backwards a little, he has to support himself with his hand in order not to fall to the floor, but apart from an involuntary gasp he remains silent. He looks up at the archangel, defeated but defiant, refusing to show how much pain he is in. Raphael's expression is wild, in fact it's something far beyond anger; rather resembling hatred. He twists the handle of the sword fiercely and Castiel's muscles tense but he still doesn't give a sound.

"Hey!"

Raphael turns around immediately at the shout that has come from behind him. Castiel finally cries out as the blade is pulled out of his shoulder; it feels like the searing pain has suddenly grown to a double rate. But the element of surprise is even bigger as he realizes it's Balthazar who's standing behind the archangel. Now this was not expected…

"Look at my junk," Balthazar says and Castiel notices the strange white object in his hand that is aimed directly at Raphael.

"No!" The archangel warns him, but he's too late. His eyes go blank first, then his face turns white, and in a couple of seconds the man that was standing between them is reduced to a heap of pure salt among empty clothes. Castiel looks on bewildered without a word; he almost can't believe his eyes.

"Same thing happened to Lot's wife," Balthazar explains in a chatting tone as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world. "Iodize the poor sucker, and your kitchen's stocked for life."

"You came back," Castiel establishes as he slowly gets to his feet.

"Well, now Raphael will have to go shopping for a new vessel," the other angel grins, "Should give me a nice long head start on him. You okay, Castiel?"

Castiel looks down at his wound which is glowing with white light and spilling blood quite steadily on the trench coat at once. "Just a scratch."

Balthazar's face darkens as he takes a step forward. "I'm sorry, friend. I am just as unable to heal injuries inflicted by an archangel's blade as you are. You'll have to deal with it on your own. Or maybe you can ask your human buddies to help; they've been forced to learn healing without angelic powers, you know…"

"I'll be okay," Castiel nods.

Balthazar mirrors the nod. For a second, they're just looking at each other.

"Until next time."

"Next time."

"No time like the present."

Just as the sound of Dean's voice destroys the moment of angelic farewell, a soft click can also be heard and in a mere second a ring of flames light up in a circle around Balthazar.

"Holy fire…" Both angels look at it utterly dumbfounded.

"You hairless ape! Release me!" Balthazar commands furiously. Castiel watches them without interfering; he already knows what is about to happen.

Dean is quick to make the conditions clear. "First you'll take your marker off of Aaron Birch's soul!"

"Am I?" Balthazar's eyes narrow.

"Sam!"

"Unless you like your wings extra crispy," The younger hunter steps in with an oil can, threatening him sarcastically. "I'd think about it."

Balthazar looks around desperately, feeling there's no escape from this trap. His gaze stops at his fellow angel.

"Castiel… I stood for you in Heaven. Are you gonna let…"

"I believe the hairless ape has the floor." Castiel interrupts him gruffly. Deep down he still feels the guilt and regret about what he did to the boy.

"Very well." Balthazar seems to accept it. The anger is still clearly written on his face but he knows there's nothing more he can do. He puts his hands together and takes a deep breath, concentrating. "The boy's debt is cleared. His soul is his own."

"Why are you buying up human souls, anyway?" Dean asks.

"In this economy? It's probably the only thing worth buying!" Balthazar almost laughs out. "Do you have any idea what souls are worth? What power they hold?" His expression turns back to serious. "Now… release me."

Dean chuckles. "Suck it, ass clown. Nobody said anything…"

This is the time Castiel finally gets himself into action. Lifting his uninjured arm, he puts the holy fire out with an open palm and outstretched fingers.

"Cas, what the hell?"

"My debt to you is cleared." He tells the other angel firmly.

Balthazar nods. "Fair enough." And in a flutter of wings, he's gone.

"Cas, are you out of your mind?" Dean snaps at the angel angrily. Castiel doesn't answer; he turns away slightly as if he was about to fly off too, but it doesn't happen. Instead, he wobbles a bit and then suddenly collapses on the floor without a warning.

"Cas!"

Dean and Sam are at his side in a second; it's only now that they notice the light and the growing red stain on the trench coat.

"You're hurt?"

Sam pulls the coat off of Castiel's left arm so they can see the injury better. There is a wide, _too-wide-for-a-blade _hole in Jimmy Novak's suit, which is, along with the shirt, quite drenched in blood by now. The wound itself is glowing in a blinding white light, and it horribly reminds the brothers of when the angel has moved into Jimmy after being absent for a while, having left his vessel to face demons alone.

"What the hell?" Dean summarizes the shock over recalling this memory quite briefly. Sam is unable to say anything; he thinks about the time Alistair was trying to send Cas back to where he had come from. There was white light shining from his eyes and mouth then, and Sam has no doubts it means something _angelic _is pouring out of him this time as well.

"Come on," Dean urges the angel, "will you heal or what?"

Castiel looks incapable of answering, he just shakes his head. "Can't…" he rasps out finally."Archangel's blade…"

"What? You guys can't heal that?" Dean's voice sounds demanding and furious, but Sam knows it's only for hiding what he really feels, worry and fear.

"It's stronger than us… stronger than everything." Castiel manages to say as he gasps for breath.

"Is this why you're… glowing?"

"Yes. That indicates the damage done… to my real being, not the vessel."

"Dean, look at this," Sam suddenly calls, pointing at the angel's back, and Dean is horrified to see another wound beneath Cas's shoulder blade, probably where the sword has exited.

"Whoa, that's bad," he mutters, then asks louder, "Cas, how bad is it?"

"I will… live," the angel replies between coughs.

"Easy. Deep breaths. Deep breaths." Sam tells him, then turns to his brother. "We have to stop the bleeding, if he can't do it himself."

Damn right, Dean thinks. Quickly getting his jacket off, he puts it around Castiel, pushing both ends into one of the wounds and ignoring the painful gasp. The angel still doesn't seem to be able to catch his breath and it's only worsening the hunter's anxiety.

"Do you think his lung's pierced?" He asks Sam whispering.

"Not sure," his brother answers. "Might be just the shock." Noticing the specks of blood on Castiel's mouth, he awkwardly adds. "Okay, but it's probably minimal."

Despite their efforts, the angel is still bleeding heavily and it's clear he is getting weaker and weaker by the second.

"Dude, shouldn't we take him to a hospital?" Sam asks, breaking the tense silence. "I mean… no angel powers and everything, we could simply let the doctors help him…"

Dean looks at him in an odd way. "Maybe you haven't noticed but he's friggin' _shining_ out of his wounds! How do you explain that to anyone?"

"That's a good point." Sam nods. "Where do we go then? Or should we just sit here and do nothing?"

Dean is helpless too. Since they have come with "Angel Airlines", the Impala was left at the motel. Maybe they could go and see if there was a car somewhere in the huge house, or…

"I can take you…" Castiel suddenly speaks as a response to his thoughts and grabs the hunter's arm, panting. "I can fly for a shorter distance. I could take you to somewhere safe…"

"No way," Dean states firmly.

"I didn't ask for… permission. Look… it won't take too much time for Raphael to find another vessel and the first thing he'll do is to come back here, hoping to find us. So… either you come or not, I'm taking my leave. Now."

The brothers look at each other, surprised. "Whoa, okay, calm down," Dean strengthens the pressure he's holding Castiel with as if it could prevent the angel from flying off. "Are you sure you can do it? I mean, without hurting yourself more?"

Castiel looks up at him with his typical _none-of-your-business_ look, and he hunter is completely left without words. "Yes."

"Well then…" Sam risks handling the situation, "Take us to the nearest motel, okay?"

"To the nearest, and no further," Dean adds.

They don't even have time to blink; they're already standing in front of a pale, vibrating MOTEL sign with Castiel standing groggily between them. He's pretty much about to fall so the brothers have to catch and hold him from both sides, and the situation eerily resembles to when Cas has arrived from the past after Anna died. He seems to be just as weak now as he was then, and the Winchesters quickly escort him into the building.

"Wow, strange," Sam declares as a couple of minutes later they enter their room on the second floor. Dean helps him carry the woozy angel to one of the beds first, sit him down carefully and asking the question after. "What's strange?"

"The room. I mean… we've never been in a motel room with three beds, have we?" Sam remarks as they start tending to Castiel's injury.

"Nah, I can't remember either."

Castiel is sitting obediently on the bed, looking from one to the other, eyes slightly unfocused. "What… what should I do?" He finally asks in the awkward silence.

"You? Nothing." Dean shrugs. They are finished bandaging the angel's shoulder; the hunter stands up and opens a bottle of beer with a hissing sound. "But if I can give you an advice, lie down and sleep. Or at least try to."

"Dean, I'm not… human, I don't need to sleep."

"Sure thing," Sam agrees, "But a little rest will do a lot of good, believe me. So don't sleep if you don't want to, just try to relax and don't move your arm. We'll probably need to change the bandage by morning but after that you'll be all fine."

"That's good," Castiel acknowledges, but waits until the brothers finish their beers and prepare to go to bed themselves; as if he didn't know how to lie down properly.

"Good night."

"Night."

"Sam."

Sam's eyes snap open. He feels like not a single minute has passed since he's fallen asleep; it's still dark outside but there's a light grey hue in the sky that already indicates the coming of morning. And there's someone standing beside his bed.

"What? Who is this?" He blinks in alarm, trying to make his eyes adjust to the darkness.

"Me."

The typical short answer and the gruff voice are unmistakable.

"Cas… what the hell do you want at…" Sam looks at the clock, still blinking, "dude, it's six am!"

"I'm sorry; I didn't really know what time is considered morning. You said I might need a bandage change."

Sam sits up in the bed, growling and rubbing his eyes. "Right… okay. Just a moment. Sit down." He gets up and clumsily heads for the bathroom, his loud steps awakening his brother.

"Dude, you got diarrhea or what?" Dean murmurs, sounding slightly annoyed. "You shouldn't have eaten that chili burger, I told you…"

Sam just rolls his eyes but doesn't answer as he starts working on Castiel.

"Hey, what are you… what, Cas?" Dean sits up too. "Dude, you know what time it is?"

"Looks good," Sam establishes, referring to the wound. "Bleeding's stopped, no sign of infection. No more glowing either."

The angel lets the younger Winchester help his shirt, suit and coat back on without a comment.

"Here. You'll be good."

"Thank you. I have to go now."

"What?" Dean thinks he has heard it wrong. "What are you talking about? It's six in the morning!"

"My brothers have called me. From Heaven. I have work to do." The angel explains, standing up.

The Winchesters exchange a glance. "What work? Have you found another stolen weapon?"

"I'm sorry. This is urgent." Castiel interrupts and the next moment the well-known rush of feathers can be heard and the angel is gone.

"Whoa, wai…" Sam falls silent in the middle of the sentence, disappointed.

"Cas?" Dean calls out but there is no answer. He can do nothing but to punch his pillow in fury. "Friggin' angels! COME ON!"

* * *

**Please review if you liked it!:)**


End file.
